The Flower of the Treetops
by Cherry Hitachiin
Summary: This follows the story, as best as it can. What happens when they meet a new person that comes with them, Jet's sister. Aang x OC
1. Jet's sister

Guard duty is so boring. I swing so that I'm hanging upside down on a thick tree limb. Jet is such a jerk sometimes. He sent me out here to be on guard duty. Guard Duty, for crying out loud! How does he expect me to stay still when there's nothing going on. All of a sudden I hear something, probably just another animal, although, this one sounds different. My curiosity gets the better of me, and I hop from tree to tree trying to find the source of the strange noise. Jet is going to kill me if he finds out I left my post. Oh, well, he's my brother. He'll understand. I hope. Jet has gotten a bit off of the right path lately. It's making me really worried. Jet is really kind and caring, but he just sees things differently now, more darkly. I finally reach the source of the noise. It looks like some kind of lemur. He stops at a pile of leaves. I'm guessing there's food down there. I notice the trap before it does, but I don't react fast enough. The poor lemur is caught in a trap. I look up and see some other animals trapped in hanging cages. Those Fire Nation jerks! How can you even do that to those poor animals? I start to release some of the animals. It's a bit hard because Jet took away my knife. It wasn't my fault it slipped and almost got him. He took my apology and my knife, happily. Whatever, I'll get it back soon enough. It's hard to free these animals without something, though. I think I hear something, so I stop to listen. I hear a group of footsteps, probably three sets. I hide. I have no idea who it is, and I have no weapon. If anyone that was an enemy saw me, I would be toast. I wait and watch to see who it is. I see three kids, well, one kid, and two teenagers, I think. The two maybe teenager are in blue, and the other kid is wearing orange and, is that, yellow? "Hang on, Momo!" All of a sudden, the kid jumps from tree to tree. How did he get up there so fast? I watch as they all rescue the lemur-I'm guessing his name is Momo, very fitting. They look back up at the baboons, who are now whining to be let out. "Alright, you, too." I'm about to go over there when the bald kid jumps all the way up to the top, not even bothering to use the trees this time.

"This is gonna take forever." The male teenager takes something from behind his back and throws it. It looks likes sharp boomerang. It cuts down the monkeys from their cages. It's so high up, I'm scared that they're going to get hurt, but they land perfectly fine.

"That works." The bald kid is right next to me, climbing on the underside of the tree limb. The monkeys escape as he slides down the tree.

"No, it doesn't! You could've killed those poor monkeys!" They look up and stare at me. Oops, I guess I was the one that said that. I tie my rope around the limb and slide down. I take my rope in my hands and turn to them. "Do you know how high up they were? You could have easily killed them by just cutting the rope like that. Why were you gentle with the lemur, when you weren't with the monkeys?"

The bald kid speaks up. "Well, I can't speak for Sokka, but it's because Momo is my pet."

"It doesn't matter!" They look taken aback by my shout. I completely understand of course, I mean, I'm not even as tall the bald kid. "All life has meaning and purpose! You can't just treat something else badly, simply because it's not special to you! For all you know, they could've been somebody else's pets!" I finally stop my little rant, feeling more than a little miffed. "It didn't take you that long to get the lemur down, so you could've just been patient when getting the others down. I helped the others, and it didn't take me forever. However, even if it did, it wouldn't have mattered, because I saved a few animals lives, and that, in itself, is completely worth it." By the end of the next rant, I'm smiling. They just look at me confused. Oh, wait! I totally forgot about guard duty! I have to get back to Jet or he's going to be furious, and I'll never get my knife back! "I'm sorry, I've got to go. I'm going to be in so much trouble!" I pull on the rope, and it yanks me back up in less than a second. I have got to get back to Jet. Maybe, I won't tell him about the kids. They don't seem all that dangerous. Besides, the bald boy was kinda cute. Ah, oh well, never gonna see him again. I land in front of Jet.

He turns to me and starts whisper yelling. "Why aren't you at your post!? If you saw anyone, you were supposed to give me the signal!"

I begin to whisper yell too. "I told you I could never get that whistle down! Besides, I didn't really know if this counted or not." I shrug and he stares at me expectantly. "Well, I heard a little lemur get trapped in one of those Fire Nation traps, so I thought it was a perfect opportunity to set the animals free. Stupid Fire Nation, hurting those poor animals." I shake my head to get back on topic. "Anyways, when I went to help, there was a group of three kids, and they saved their lemur and the last two of the animals that were trapped." I'm just going to leave out the part of me yelling at them.

He looks down at the Fire Nation camp then looks back at me. "Is that them?" I look down and see them. I nod. What are they doing there? "Go back to the camp." I'm about to protest when he cuts me off. "You don't have a weapon with you. You can't really do anything, and you could get hurt. Go back and prepare some medicine, we might need it." He goes down there and begins to fight the soldiers. I do as I'm told, albeit begrudgingly. It doesn't take all that long to get the medicine ready. I'm so bored. Waiting for the freedom fighters to get back is so B-O-R-I-N-G! I look in the mirror across from me, and almost scream. I look awful. I'm all dirty, and my hands have rust and little pieces of rope on them from helping those animals. My hair is everywhere from jumping from tree to tree. I clean myself up, put my hair back in its original ponytail, put on some clean green clothes, and latch on my special bracelet. It was the first thing we ever stole from the Fire Nation soldiers. Jet and I were only ten. It was also the day we met Pipsqueak and The Duke. The Duke is really fun and Pipsqueak is like a giant teddy-bear. Whenever someone would get sick, injured, or the same would happen to me, Pipsqueak would always stay behind and help me. Trust me he doesn't love me and I don't love him. It's more like I'm the doting mother, and he's the mamma's boy. He's really helpful, and if anybody bugs me, Pipsqueak just gives them a mean look, and they run away. I hear a scream and run out of my room to see who it is and if they need medical attention. I see the teenage boy from earlier, and he's struggling to get out of the rope pulley. I stop the rope right when it gets to me and untie him.

"Thanks." I give him a big smile.

"No problem." The next person I see is the bald kid from before. "Hello."

He turns to me and smiles. He looks up and sees the pulley system. "What are those?"

"Oh, that's our pulley system." I grin mischievously. "It's also a _really_ fun ride." I grab his hand and lead him over to the closest one. "You just hold onto the pulleys like this...and...GO!" I push his back. He's loving every second of it. I know the feeling, the wind in your face, the breeze flowing by you, making you feel like you're flying.

I look over and see Jet holding the teenage girl from earlier. He is such a flirt. "Nice place you got!" The bald kid is zooming from place to place on the pulleys. He finally lands next to me after a few minutes. "That was so much fun!"

"It really is." I look over and see Jet talking to the girl on one of our bridges. "Hey! I just had a great idea. Why don't you guys stay here for a little while? Nobody's come to me, so I'm guessing the mission was successful, and that means we are going to have a feast tonight. You could stay, eat, and even swing from the pulleys some more, if you want!"

He gets a really bug, goofy grin. "Really?"

"Why not?" He starts jumping around in excitement, well, more like floating. "Hey, how are you doing that?" He stops and makes a little ball of air in his hands. that's all the explanation I need. "You-you're an air-bender?" He nods. "That. Is. So. Awesome! I didn't think there were any others!"

"Others?" Oops. Backtrack! Backtrack!

"Yeah, I, uh, thought all of the air-benders were gone. It's nice to finally meet one." He looks slightly disappointed, but shrugs nonetheless. That was a close one.

"Well, my name is Aang." He reaches out his hand.

I shake his hand. I'm about to tell him my name, when I see one of our friends limping toward me. "Well, duty calls. I'll see you at dinner." With that I turn and go to help the little boy.

Later on we are sitting around the table, waiting to start the feast. I want to sit next to Pipsqueak, but the only open spot is next to Aang, so I go sit there. "Oh, hey." I wave and see Jet stand up.

"Today, we struck another blow against the Fire Nation swine." Cheers. "I got a special joy from the look on one soldiers face when The Duke dropped down on his helmet, and rode him like a wild hog-monkey." The Duke walks around on the table. More Cheers. "Now, the Fire Nation thinks they don't have to worry about a couple of kids hiding in the trees. Maybe they're right." Boos. "Or maybe, they're dead wrong!" Cheers. He grabs my hand, and pulls me up onto the table. "Let's also not forget the wonderful work my sister did on patching everybody up. Without her, we wouldn't be able to plan as many attacks, or have as many able bodied people. Let's give a round of applause for Lei, The Flower of the Treetops." Cheers. I blush, and do a little curtsie. He helps me off of the table, and I go back to my seat near Aang.

"Hey, Jet. Nice speech"

"Thanks. By the way, I was really impressed with you and Aang. That was some great bending I saw out there today."

"Well, he's great. He's the Avatar." Woah, what? "I could use some practice."

"The Avatar, huh? Very nice."

"Thanks, Jet." Jet continues to talk to Katara, so Aang turns to me. "So, you're name is Lei, huh?"

"Yeah, didn't I tell you?" He shakes his head. "Sorry about that. So, you're the Avatar, huh?" I mimicked his tone.

"Yeah, didn't I tell you?" He copies me and we laugh. "So, why are you called the 'Flower of the Treetops'?"

"Well, my name means flower, and it was my idea to live up here. Jet always says that his sister is like his mother. I am the caretaker of everyone here, so it's natural that I come off a little motherly." I walk over to Pipsqueak and pat his shoulder. "Especially, to Pipsqueak. He's such a good helper." He grips me in a big hug, and we laugh as loud and as much as we want. I walk back over to Aang. "So, is it hard?" He looks confused. "You're the Avatar, the last air-bender, and you're only twelve years old. That has to be a big burden to bear, and a lot of pressure. It's lonesome thinking you're the last one of your kind. You always feel like your all alone, and no one truly understands except you. Do you ever get lonely?"

He looks at the ground. "Well, it is true that it's a lot of pressure, but I'm slowly getting used to being the Avatar. I feel lonely sometimes, but I don't feel alone. I have Katara, Sokka, even Momo and Appa."

"Well, now you have me, too. That is, if you guys will let me travel with you?"

"We can't take you." I feel my spirits drop. "Don't worry, it's not that I think you wouldn't be helpful or anything. It's just that you're needed here, with Jet and the others."

"But Jet's going to break his promise."

"What do you mean?"

"Jet made a promise to me when we made our home in the trees, after our parents died. He said that he would protect me and stay by my side, and I told him that I could take care of myself. He promised that he would let me leave if he ever became a monster. I have a bad feeling about the next few days. I know he's going to break his promise. He's not going to do it intentionally. He sees things differently now. He's been blinded by rage at the Fire Nation. He's going to do something drastic, but that's all that I can tell you." I yawn. "I'd better get some sleep."

"I'll walk you back." We walk back to my tree house. "Wow, it's so big."

"Jet let me have the biggest one, because I'm the doctor here, and sometimes I need the space for the freedom fighters. Thanks for walking me back, and I'm really sorry for yelling at you."

"That's okay. I feel the same way. The monks taught me that all life is sacred. Well, goodnight. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah, goodnight, Aang." I fall down on my bed exhausted from today.

I wake up the next morning to find that Jet and the others are already gone. I make my usual rounds checking up on everybody. I find The Duke handing something to Aang. "Hey, Aang. Hey, The Duke, where's Pipsqueak?"

"He went on the mission with Jet."

"Oh, okay. Are you okay? Do you need anything?" He shakes his head. "Okay, then. Later."

"Hey, Lei. What are you doing?"

"Well, I just finished making sure everyone was okay, so nothing now. Why?"

"I need you to show me how to use the pulleys again."

"Oh, okay." We walk up to the nearest one. There are two, so I show him by example. "You have to hold it by the triangle, or it won't go anywhere." He puts his hands on his and looks to me. "Just like that. Now, how about a race?"

"Oh, you're on!" We start racing on the pulleys. He starts to catch up with me. "You've got some speed, but I bet you can't beat an air-bender." He blows air beneath him to make him go faster, and it works.

"We'll just see about that." I move my arm to push some air back, and go flying. I pass by him and he looks shocked. "Hah! You're gonna get beat by-" I hear something snap. I look up and see the pulley starting to break. One side of the pulley snaps, and I pull the other down to hold on. The edge in between them breaks from the pressure, and I go falling. "Aang!" A few seconds later, I'm floating. I look down and see Aang air-bending me down to safety. I finally land, safe and sound. I turn around and give him a hug. "Thank you, so much. I-I thought I was going to die."

He just laughs. "I wouldn't just let my new friend go like that." I blush. I turn and see Jet back with Pipsqueak and the others.

I run up to Jet and tell him what happened. He nods and walks over to Aang. "So, I hear you saved my sister?" Aang nods sheepishly. "Thanks. I don't know what I would've done if I'd lost her." I walk up to him and punch his arm. "Ouch! What was that for?"

"You're too mushy. You're more of a girl than I am. Come on, Pipsqueak, I need your help." He just smiles and follows me. I think Aang goes off onto the pulley system again. I make a mental note to make sure to ask Jet if he can find anymore pulleys for me. If he doesn't want to, I can always guilt trip him for leaving me. A few hours later I remember something very important. Everything I have left to do today, I need my knife for. I have to go ask Jet for it back. Pipsqueak can't help, cause he just carries around a log. It's effective, but not what I need it for. While heading to Jet's tent, I see Sokka coming out of it looking very angry. "Hi, Sokka!"

"Hey, Lei."

"You seem upset. What did Jet do?" He looks shocked. "You just came out of his tent, and you look angry. I can put two and two together, you know. Even though he's my brother, I'll listen to what you have to say." He tells me the story of what just happened, including the bit about the knife. "Wait, did the knife have a secret compartment with poison in it?"

"Yeah, how did you know?" I gasp. I see Katara and Aang walk out of the tent.

"Hey, Lei. Are you okay? You look mad."

"I'll be fine after I speak to my brother." I walk into Jet's tent. I stand there tapping my foot and crossing my arms.

"What is it, Lei?"

"Don't act like you don't know. Why did you lie to them about the knife?"

"I did what had to be done. It made the story more convincing." He turns to walk out of the tent.

"You've started to break your promise." I mumble to myself, but he probably heard it. He stops for a second , but continues walking. I go to sleep any have terrible nightmares. All of them oddly consist of Jet, water, explosions, and monsters. I finally wake up from my last nightmare. My dreams tend to mean something, so I always think about them afterwards. Jet, water, explosions, and monsters. What do all of those things have in common. Yesterday, I told Jet that he started to break his promise on becoming a monster. That's two. Now, water and explosions. Hmm. Sokka wasn't too happy about Jet and he was with him yesterday. Maybe I should talk to him. He would be brutally honest about Jet, even to me. I find Sokka walking with Pipsqueak and Smellerbee. Are his hands tied. I hide behind a tree. He notices me, and I make a motion for him to come over to me. He runs this way and traps the other two in the Fire Nation cages.

"While you two are up there, you might wanna practice your knotwork."

"Sokka, why did you trap them. What's going on?"

"I'll explain on the way. First, we need to head to the village."

"Let me handle this. There's a tree around here that has a secret tunnel." I start searching. I see the tree with my orange necklace on it. "There it is!" I pull Sokka with me and blow into a secret hole in the tree. "Go on, I'll be there in a second." He nods and climbs in. I walk back to where the boys are. I jump up and untie them. "Pipsqueak, why?" He looks sad, and I give him a hug. "He's broken his promise, so I'm allowed to leave. I will miss you very much. Take care of everyone for me, alright?" He nods, a single tear running down his cheek. I wipe it away with my thumb. I run back to the tree, grab my necklace,a nd catch up with Sokka. "Okay, now while we're heading to the village, what is Jet going to do?"

"You don't need a lot of convincing, do you?"

"He's my brother. I know him better than anybody. So, what's he planning this time?"

"He's planning on blowing up the damn. He's going to kill all of those innocent people, just to get rid of a few Fire Nation soldiers."

"Well, I guess that's where the water and explosions come in. We're not going to be able to stop it, but maybe we can get the people out in time." He nods. "I made this tunnel because Jet wanted me to spy on the town to get information. It exits just behind a shop in the middle of town. I usually wear a disguise, but there's no need this time. However, this does need to move along a bit quicker if we are going to get the people out." I see a flicker of light. I pull down on the silver pulley, and we go flying. We reach the end in a matter of seconds.

"Now, time to convince the people."

"You might want to consider convincing the soldiers first." I draw his attention to the fact that we're surrounded by soldiers.

A few minutes later and we're riding on Appa. "Jet, you monster!"

"That's Katara." He directs Appa to the edge of a cliff. We hear Jet say that the valley will be safe. "It will be safe. Without you. I warned the villagers of your plan, just in time." Jet looks really mad. "At first, they didn't believe me. The soldiers assumed I was a spy, but one man vouched for me, the old man you attacked. He urged them to trust me, and we got everyone out in time."

"Sokka, you fool! We could've freed this valley!"

"Who would be free? Everyone would be dead."

"You traitor!"

"No, Jet, you became the traitor when you stopped protecting innocent people."

"Katara, please, help me."

"Goodbye, Jet." She gets on Appa while I jump off.

"Lei, help me get out of this."

"No."

"What?"

"I told you yesterday, but today you've finished. You've officially become a monster, Jet. I am now free to leave, that was you promise. Thank you, for always protecting me." I get back on Appa and leave.

"Thank you, Lei."

"What for?"

"We wouldn't have been able to save the people without you. So, thank you."

I jump up and hug Sokka. "Aw, that's so sweet! Katara will you be my sister, so Sokka can be my brother, too? It can only be pretend if you want."

She laughs at me. "Sure, Lei."

"Thanks!" I sit down next to Aang. "Oh, yeah!" I reach into my bag that I brought with me. "Aang, I need you to look at something for me." I grab my necklace that was on the tree out of my bag and hand it to him.

He gasps. "Where did you get this."

"I found it. Why?"

"This is a sacred air-nomad necklace."


	2. The Great Divide

We've stopped at a little mountain range not too far from the great divide itself. We all have our separate jobs. Katara gets the firewood, Sokka puts up the tent, Aang gets us some food, and I have to take care of Appa and Momo. I get all the stuff off of Appa's saddle and start to pet him. I found a melon not too far away from our campsite. "Fine by me! If you're not gonna do your job!" I turn and see Sokka throw the tent down. Ah, sibling fighting. I miss it. I look down and see that Appa stole the melon I found and is keeping it away from Momo.

"Okay, I got the grub if you guys got the-. Hey where's the campfire? And what happened to the tent?" I go and stand next to Aang.

"Why don't you ask Miss Know-It-All, Queen of the Twigs?"

"Oh, yeah? Well, you're Mr. Lazy-Bum, King of the...Tents." She throws a stick, and it hits Sokka in the head.

Aang laughs a little. "Okay, listen, guys. Harsh words won't solve problems, action will. Why don't you just switch jobs?" They both agree and get back to work. "You see that? Settling feuds and making peace. All in a day's work for the Avatar."

I try to pull the melon away from Appa but he won't let go. "Hey, Aang, can you help me over here?" Aang takes the melon from Momo and slices it with air-bending.

He gives the smaller piece to Momo, and Momo complains. "Come on, Momo, that's fair. Appa's got five stomachs."

"Thanks, Aang. Well, I think I'm done. Want to talk?"

"Yeah, sure." We sit down next to Appa. "So, what do you want to talk about?" I shrug. "Well, lets talk about your necklace."

"Oh, uh, yeah, sure." I start fiddling with it. It's been around my neck since he told me it was an air-bending necklace. "Well, I kinda lied. I did find it, but not just like found it on the street or anything. When the soldiers killed our parents, Jet and I went back to the house, well, what was left of it. There was a secret panel underneath the floor. I opened it and found a big box. Inside was this necklace, and a lot of yellow and orange clothes. When you told me it was an air-bending necklace, I wasn't really all that surprised. My mom actually told me when I was little that she was an air-bender, and that maybe Jet and I were, too. That's probably why they were killed. I didn't remember this until you told me, so, thanks."

"So, do you think, maybe, you're an air-bender, too?" I look away, feeling guilty. I need to tell him. He thinks he's the last one. "Lei?" Come on, you big chicken, just say it!

"Well, Aang, I-"

"All finished!" We look and see the tent and the fire all set up.

I sigh. "Nevermind. Let's go eat some of that dinner you found. I bet Sokka's starving." He gives me a weak smile, and we walk over to the fire to eat dinner. Why couldn't I just say it! I know I couldn't say it before, because I might have gone to jail if the soldiers found out, but he's an air-bender too. It's not like he'll report me to the Fire Nation for being an air-bender. I guess I'm still kinda scared. At least, now, I can wear the clothes that I brought with me. They're all air-nomad clothes and really pretty. We eat dinner and got to sleep. Tomorrow, we'll get to see the great divide.

We put everything back up on Appa and start walking. I'm in my beautiful air-bending clothes. "Woah, you guys really need to see this."

"There it is, guys, the great divide." It's so beautiful.

"Wow, I could just stare at it forever."

"Okay, I've seen enough."

"Well, that was fast. Even for you, Sokka." He shrugs.

"How can you not be fascinated, Sokka? This is the largest canyon in the entire world."

"Then I'm sure we'll be able to see it very clearly from the air while we fly away." I move out of the way so I don't get run into. Sokka, however, doesn't pay attention to my movement and gets run into by the running person.

"Hey, if you're looking for the canyon guide, I was here first." Technically, you just got here.

"Ooh, canyon guide. Sounds informative." I don't pay attention to what the guy is saying. He just sounds like a whiney baby to me. I try to stifle my laugh while Sokka is making fun of the guy behind his back. "You're a refugee." That catches my attention.

"Tell me something I don't know." I don't like this guy, he's a jerk. I turn and see a big group of people, probably the rest of this guys tribe. "It most certainly is not!" Oh, well, nevermind. "That's the Zhang tribe, a bunch of low-life thieves." Well, you're not exactly the nicest guy either. I'm sorry, but why would you whistle to the other tribe and talk to them, if you hate them so much? All I hear next is arguing arguing blah blah blah. I turn around and see a group of rocks being moved out of the way. That must be the guide.

"Sorry about the wait, youngsters. Who's ready to cross this here canyon?"

"One of them, I think."

"I can't guide people who aren't here." Is it wrong that I want to laugh at the guy, a lot? More arguing. Do these guys ever shut up?

"Well, Aang, ready to put your peacemaking skills to the test?"

"I don't know. A fight over chores is one thing. These people have been feuding for a hundred years."

I walk up to him and put my hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry, Aang. I'm sure you'll think of something."

"Everyone, listen up. This is the Avatar." Yeah, Katara, just yell that out loud. That makes perfect sense. "If you give him a chance, I'm sure he can come up with a compromise that will make everyone happy." Everybody turns to look at Aang. Yeah, no pressure or anything.

"Uh, you could share the earth-bender and travel together?" Arguing and refusal. These people are getting on my nerves, quick. I see Aang start to get mad. "Alright! Here's the deal! You're all going down together, and Appa here will fly your sick and elderly across! Does that seem fair?" They nod in agreement.

"Nice going, Aang. Don't take any offense, but I didn't think you had it in you."

"Thanks, Lei! Sorry, Appa, you'll have to do this on your own."

"Aang, this feuding tribe stuff is serious business. Are you sure it's a good idea to get involved in this?"

"You should have asked that earlier."

"To tell the truth, I'm not sure, but when have I ever been?"

"He's the Avatar, Sokka. Making peace between people is his job."

"His job's going to make us cross this whole thing on foot, isn't it?"

"Probably, but stop being such a baby, Sokka. As a warrior, this shouldn't even phase you."

The canyon guide is telling them about no food, and they all complain, again. "Aw, you babies can go a day without food." I like this guy. "Would you rather be hungry, or dead? Now we're heading down in ten minutes, all food better be in your gut, or in the garbage!"

"Appa's going to take good care of you until we get there. See you on the other side, buddy. Yip yip!" Appa leaves, and we start on our journey.

"Okay, everyone stand clear of the wall." He earth-bends a giant rock and sends it flying into the path we just came across.

"Why'd you do that?"

"These people are fleeing the Fire Nation, aren't they? Got to make sure we can't be followed" I feel something moving. "We'll be safe now." I don't think so. A giant bug grabs the man.

"We gotta help him!" Sokka throws his boomerang, and the bug flings the man away. The man hits some rocks, and the bug comes crawling towards us. "Okay, now we gotta help me!" I run over to the guide to make sure he's okay while everyone else is fighting the bug.

"What was that?"

"Canyon crawler, and there's sure to be more."

"Your arms, they're broken."

"Without my arms, I got no bending. In other words-"

"We're trapped in this canyon."

"I thought the whole point of ditching our food, was so we didn't have to deal with things like canyon crawlers." Accusations and arguing.

"Any ideas?" The guide starts mumbling things about dieing and the food chain.

"Well, he's no help. I think he hit his head." More arguing. These people can't stop for one minute, can they?

"Enough! I thought I could help you guys get along, but I guess that's not going to happen. We should split up; Gan Jins on this side and Zhangs on that side. We'll travel in two separate lines." They nod and go there separate ways. "Sokka, you go with the Zhangs, and Katara, you go with the Gan Jins. See if you can find out why they hate each other so much."

"I'll go with you and the guide."

"Sure would be nice to be around one of those camp-fires, telling stories and laughing. It's okay, Momo. We'll be out of here soon enough, and then we can eat our weight in lychee nuts." Momo starts eating a bug and offers it to Aang. "Nah, I'll wait for the lychee nuts."

"It's lonely, isn't it? Being impartial."

"I wish I could help these people get along, but it just seems impossible. Anyhow, I guess our biggest problem is getting out of here."

"I'm not so sure the two problems are unrelated." The guide falls asleep.

I sit down next to Aang. "Well, if you want to tell stories, I'm here. I don't know if they'll be any funny or not."

He lightly laughs. "Thanks. So, what were you going to tell me yesterday?"

"Oh, that. I was going to say that, well, how should I put this? *sigh* I'm just going to be straight with you. I mean, it's not like you're going to turn me in or anything. I am an air-bender, too, although, not a very good one." He just stares at me. "Aang? Hello?" I wave my hand in front of his face. "Earth to Aang. Did you go into the Spirit World, or something?"

He gets this giant grin and tackles me in a hug. "This is so Amazing! I'm not the only one left!"

"I'm glad you're happy, but can you please get off of me. I think I landed on a rock." He blushes and pulls me up. "Sorry I didn't tell you before. I guess I just got used to not telling anyone. I don't think even Jet knows." I hug my knees to my chest. "I miss him. He wasn't always like that, you know. As much as I know what he did was wrong, he's still my brother. I really miss Pipsqueak. He made me laugh everyday, he was so silly. I nearly cried when I had to tell him goodbye." I hide my face in my legs.

"Do you feel lonely?" I nod my head. "Well, you don't need to. You have me, Sokka, and Katara."

I lightly laugh. "Don't forget Appa and Momo." Momo comes over and lays in my lap.

"Exactly!"

"Thanks, Aang, I feel a lot better now. Someone else finally knowing is a giant weight off of my shoulders." We fall asleep after awhile.

"All clear. We're almost to the other side."

"Katara, Sokka, will these people cooperate long enough to get out of the canyon?"

"I don't think so, Aang. The Zhangs really wronged the Gan Jins. They ambushed Jin Wei and stole the sacred orb."

"What are you talking about?"

"Yeah, Katara, what are you talking about? Wei Jin didn't steal the orb. He was returning it to their village gate and was wrongfully punished by the Gan Jin."

"Not punished enough, if you ask me."

"Okay, okay, I get it! Now I need your help. Let's get everyone together at the base of the canyon wall." He glides over there. "Please, everyone, as soon as we get out of here, we can eat and then go our separate ways. But I need you all to put your heads together and figure out a way up this cliff." Arguing again, and again, and again. Even Katara and Sokka have joined the fight. "Guys, focus! How many times do I have to say it? Harsh words won't solve problems, action will." They agree with Aang, he gives an adorable smile, and they start fighting with weapons. Did anyone else see this coming? "You know I take it back. Harsh words aren't so bad."

I grab his hand. "Aang, come on!" I yank him away from the battle. "They're not paying attention to the people around them. What would happen if they hit you?" They keep fighting. "Aang, they're going to kill each other, do something!" He jumps up and air-bends between them. Their food goes flying everywhere.

"Is that food? Everyone smuggled food down here? Unbelievable! You guys put our lives in danger because you couldn't go without a snack for a day? You're all awful!" No wonder we got attacked by the crawler! He makes a kind of pouty face with big eyes. "So hungry. Is that egg custard in that tart?"

"I'll be taking that." I go over and grab the tart. I don't need it, so I'll save it for Aang. "Uh, Aang?" There are tons of crawlers coming out of the mountain behind him. One lunges for Aang while his back is turned. "Watch Out!" I blow him out of the way.

"Thanks for that, Lei."

"Uh, no problem, heh heh." How did I even do that? I have no idea. After a few minutes of fighting, nothing is really different. The crawlers just keep coming back. "Aang, there are too many." I'm standing in front of a bag of food. A crawler jumps at me, and I jump away just in time. It has its head in the sack, eating food, so I jump on and tie it around its face.

Aang notices. "Everybody! Watch me and do what I do!" He does the same thing, and everybody else does it too. "Now, follow me! We're riding out of this hole!" He yanks me up onto the crawler he's on, and we go up the side of the canyon wall. "Everyone, get off!" After everyone is off, he throws the bag, and I blow it open. The crawlers follow it and leave. After a few seconds it sounds like the people are making up. Then they take out their weapons again. "Wait a second. Jin Wei, Wei Jin? I know those guys!" Aang then tells the story of the two twin brothers and the game. "There was no stealing, and no putting anyone in prison. Just a game."

"You're saying the sacred orb was actually a sacred ball?"

"Nope, just a regular ball."

"What about our tribes redemption ritual?" I really don't like that guy.

"That's...what the game was called: Redemption. As soon as someone got the ball from one goal to the other, everyone would yell, 'Redmption'! Don't get me wrong, Wei Jin was kind of a slob, and Jin Wei was a little stuffy, that much is true. But they respected each other's differences enough to share the same playing field." Aw, they made up.

"Good to see you, boy. Did you miss me?" Appa answers by licking him. The leader of the Gan Jins comes up and thanks him. "Well, you know, I try." He looks disgusted and walks away. I should get Appa to lick him.

"I'm going too. I'm sick of this place!"

"I really think he hit his head."

"That's some luck you knew Jin Wei and Wei Jin."

"You could call it luck, or you could call it lying."

"What?"

"I made the whole thing up."

"You did not! That is so wrong."

"Now, where's that custard tart? I'm starving!"

"I got it. Here you go." I hand it to him, and he looks so happy!

He hugs me. "You are the best air-bender buddy ever!"

"Wait, what?" I look at Sokka and Katara and shrug.

"Oh, yeah, we forgot to tell you. I'm an air-bender, like Aang." They shrug and we leave on Appa. Well, I don't have to hide anything now. What a relief!


	3. Stars, Wolf Foxes, and Broken Bracelets

I wake up with a start when Momo jumps on my lap. "What's going on? Did we get captured again?"

I rub my eyes tiredly. "That single question says so much about you guys." I lean down and pet Appa's fur. It seems Momo woke him up too. My petting slowly soothes him back to sleep.

"It's nothing. I just had a bad dream. Go back to sleep." I look over at Aang and frown. He's been having a few bad dreams lately. Not really bad ones, like nightmares, but still pretty bad. He refuses to talk about them, though.

"Don't have to tell me twice." Sokka just lays back down and goes to sleep.

"Why do you need so much sleep, anyway? That's all you do. That, eat meat, and complain about sleep and meat. Oh, I'm sorry, you also throw around your little boomerang toy. I'm sorry I forgot something so important to your being. I mean, without it, who would you even be? You would be the complain, sarcasm, and bad joke factory." He glares at me, but falls back asleep anyway. I'm normally not so antagonistic towards Sokka, but he kept bugging me today about being an air-bender, and not telling them. I had to explain myself ten different times, before he finally gave up after I blew him off of Appa's back. Aang saved him of course, but it was still fun to hear him screaming like a little girl.

"Are you alright, Aang?" I feel a slight twinge.

"I'm okay." Now, there's a twinge of sadness. I know he's lying.

"You seem to be having a lot of nightmares lately. You want to tell me about it?"

"I think I just need some rest."

Sokka sits up. "You guys wanna hear about my dream?" Silence. "That's okay. I didn't want to talk about it anyway."

"Does it have to do with meat?" He slinks back into his sleeping bag. "Thought so." He sticks his tongue out at me, and I do the same back at him. I lay back down and stare at the stars. I feel someone's stare on me. I turn and see Aang staring at me sadly. "Come on." He looks at me quizzically, and I pat the spot next to me on Appa's saddle. He gets up and lays down next to me. He begins to open his mouth, but I cut him off. "I know you don't want to talk about it right now. I'm not asking you to. I'm just saying that I'll be here for you as best as I can. I mean, it's my job as the only other air-bender. We have to stick together right?" He smiles and nods. I point up to the stars. "Look, what do you see?"

"Uh, stars?" He shrugs.

"Yes, and, no. The stars are much more than just things in the sky. They are also a map, parts of history, tellers of time, and, most importantly to me, they are reminders. Reminders of beauty and pain. Do you know what stars are? They are all giant balls of fire. However, even those who are scared to death of fire can still find beauty in the stars. They are signals of hope. They give us hope that the next day will be right around the corner. No matter what has happened to you, loss of one or both of your parents, loss of a pet, loss of a people, if you look at the stars you will always have hope for a better tomorrow. The night sky is a beautiful picture with as much meaning as you can put into it. Do you think you understand?" He nods his head. "Good, now try to get some sleep, okay? You can stay up here with me, if you want." He yawns and nods tiredly before laying down on the other side of Appa's saddle. Before long, I can hear his light snoring, before I begin to drift off into sleep.

I wake up to be blinded by the sun and hear the waves against the shore. I feel something begin to move underneath of my hand. It's probably Momo. I look in the direction of my hand and see that I was latching onto Aang's arm. I cover my mouth and jump back. I can't believe I did that in my sleep. I jump down off of Appa. "Hey, Lei. You're awake."

"Oh, hey, Katara. Good morning."

"Good morning to you, too." She gives me a knowing smirk, and I begin to inwardly panic. "Don't worry, I know you were talking to him last night. It seemed you calmed him down for a bit. I also know that it was an accident, so you don't need to be worried that I'm going to yell at you." I give her a hug and start to walk away. "Wait, where are you going?"

"I'm just going for a walk. I'll be back before we leave." I continue walking, but just end up sitting on the shore a few yards away. Momo flies over to me and lays in my lap while I pet him. "Hey, Momo. Do you think he would teach me how to air-bend? I can only do a few things right now. I'm not much help to anybody. The only thing I can do is remind him that there is only one other air-bender left alive, other than Appa, of course." He looks up at me and grabs at my hair. "Ouch! Hey! Fine! I'll be happier. Now, will you get off of me?" He flies back over to Appa and Aang who is sitting on Appa's head at the reigns.

"Look at those clear skies, buddy. Should be some smooth flying."

"Well, we better smoothly fly ourselves to a market, cause we're out of food."

I jump up on Appa's saddle. "Maybe Sokka ate it all."

"Guys, wait. This was in my dream, we shouldn't go to the market."

"Why? What happened in your dream."

"That question is about to be regretted." I mumble under my breath.

"Food eats people. Also, Momo could talk. You said some very unkind things."

I gesture toward Sokka. "See? And you wonder why I blew him off of Appa! If he hit his head, he might have gotten smarter." Momo makes a chittering noise. "Don't apologize to him. It was a stupid dream. As long as I've been here, you haven't said a single mean thing to Sokka or any of us. Appa, maybe, but that was because of food." Momo flies up to my shoulder, and I pet his head. "He's just grumpy because he doesn't have enough imagination to dream about something other than food." He rubs his face against mine. "Aw, you're welcome, Momo." Sokka just glares at me. "What are you looking at?" He grunts and turns away. We fly to a nearby fishing village.

"Alright, we need to get some food."

I wave at them. "Well, I'm going to go check out some shops. See you guys later." I have my own little stash of money that I stole from a fire nation soldier. I look around and see an antique and weapon shop. Since I'm not all that good at bending yet, I might as well look for something to help protect my friends, even Sokka. I go in and start looking around.

"I can see by your clothes that you are a fan of air-bending." I see a nice old man come from behind a curtain. "My name is Botan, and I'm the owner of this here shop. You wouldn't be the Avatar, now would you?"

He extends his hand, and I shake it. "It's nice to meet you, Botan. My name is Lei. I'm not the Avatar, but he's my friend." I look around and see a lot of swords and sharp things. "Um, would you happen to have anything for an air-bender to use? Maybe, a fan or something like that?"

"Well, let me see what I got." He goes back behind the curtain. "You said your name was Lei, didn't you?"

"Yes, sir, I did."

"Well then, I have just the thing for you." He comes back out holding two sticks. "This here is a weapon I created, myself. Here, you have two sticks, right?" I nod. "Wrong!" I shrink back a bit. "These two sticks are more than they appear to be." He holds the sticks out, but when he flicks them, they become fans. "See? There is a delicate flower pattern on these fans, just like your name. Here have a feel for them." He hands me the delicate fans. They have a beautiful yellow background with very light pink flowers running along the edge. "They were used by a few female air-benders before they were taken onto a fire nation ship and stored with the rest of the stolen property. That is how I acquired most of my merchandise. When I was a fire nation general, one of my ships was caught in a terrible storm. I woke up the next day on an island with a beaten up ship, and a missing crew. I never saw my crew again, but the things that were stored away below deck were all in tact. I came to this village and started a shop here selling them all, and even making a few adjustments to them." He winks at me, and unfolds some more of one of the fans. He connects the fan to the bottom, and I gasp. "There you have it, a hand made glider fit for a delicate young air-bender." He hands it to me. "Free of charge, of course."

I try to hand it back to him. "I couldn't do that. I couldn't just not pay you for something so beautiful and special like this."

"How about you buy something else, and I throw in the glider for free? What kind of things are you interested in?"

"Well, I like animals."

"I have just what you need." He goes back behind the curtain and comes back out with a little bundle in his arms. "I found a wolf fox behind my shop a few days ago. Sadly, she died during her babies birth. I would like you to take care of it." He gently hands me the cub. I give him the money we agree on. "I'm glad that she could be so lucky. Only a few animals have been able to be the companion of the Ara."

"The Ara? What's that?"

He looks shocked. "Why, you don't know?" I shake my head. "The Ara is-"

"Hey, Lei, come on. We're finished shopping."

"Okay, Katara." I turn back to the man. "I'm sorry to run off, but I have to go. Thank you very much for my glider and cub. It means a lot to me." I bow to the man and run to find Katara and the others. "Sorry I took so long, guys."

"Hey, Lei. What did you get?" I show him. "A baby wolf fox and a hand-made glider? You are so lucky. Maybe we can practice air-bending later."

I eagerly nod my head. "That would be great!" How am I going to walk around with a newborn cub? I start to unwrap him from the bundle when I figure out he's wrapped in a baby sling. "Oh, I just love that old man!" He looks at me confused until I put the sling around my neck. "He thought of everything, even how I could take the cub around with me."

"Out of food and out of money. Now what are we supposed to do?"

"You could get a job, smart guy." We hear this old couple arguing about a storm.

"Maybe we should find some shelter."

"Are you kidding? Shelter from what?" I'm getting a bad feeling.

"I don't know, you guys. I think we should listen to the old lady. I mean, the other old lady, not Sokka." He growls at me, and I smirk at him.

The couple continues arguing, and the old man says something about paying someone else double. Sokka jumps at the chance. "I'll go."

"You're hired."

"What? You said get a job, and he's paying double."

"Double? Who told you that nonsense?" Sokka looks a little sad, so I pat his head.

"It's okay, Sokka. Maybe you can actually learn how to catch fish now." He growls at me. "I thought I was the one who liked animals, but, apparently, not as much as you do. I mean, you're already speaking their language." He comes up to me and starts poking my shoulder.

"You know, this is why I was questioning you all day yesterday. Your snarky little attitude."

I get up in his face. "Well, maybe I wouldn't have an attitude if you would just believe me for once! I haven't lied to you since I've met you! What gives you the idea or even the right to treat me like a criminal?"

"Maybe because of your good for nothing brother, Jet. We were probably better off without you with us. I mean, who knows that you're not as evil and as conniving and-" *SLAP* He holds his hand up to his cheek in shock.

"You don't know anything! You're a stupid jerk that doesn't even know anything about my brother! You have no right to talk about him that way! How would you feel if people started talking that way about Katara!? I wish I never came with you! I would've been more help back home! You guys don't even need me here! All I am is just a waste of space, right?" I turn to walk away when he grabs my wrist. I yank it away, and my bracelet falls shattering into pieces. "My bracelet." It isn't fixable. It's beyond recognition. The glass has broken into a million pieces. Katara comes over, gasps, and puts her arm around me.

"Lei, I am so sorry. Maybe we can get it fixed." I slide her hand off of my shoulder.

"No, we can't." I stand up and begin to walk away. "You wanted me gone? You got it, Sokka." I stop next to Aang. "Well, it was nice to meet the Avatar and another air-bender. I can't say that word, not to you. So, I'll just say that I'll see you around."

"Goodbye, Lei." I choke back a sob, but accidentally let one tear slip before I fly away on my new glider.


	4. The Storm Inside

While flying around on my new glider, I begin to think about all that has happened to me. I met the Avatar, left my brother and the freedom fighters, told Aang that I was a fellow air-bender, got interrogated by Sokka for being an air-bender, fought with Sokka, bought a glider and a wolf fox, yelled at Sokka, broke the only think I had left from Jet, and flew away like a coward. Seems like a very interesting few days. I'm way too emotional. I understood him interrogating me, at first, but then he just kept asking the same questions over and over. The only difference was he added really to everything. "How did you really get that necklace? Are you really an air-bender?" and on and on and on. I didn't lie to him the entire time I knew him, but he was just too critical to me. I got enough of that in the earth city that we were stationed near back in the forest. I miss the freedom fighters. I really need a hug from Pipsqueak right now. I look up at the sky and see tons of dark clouds. I need to find cover before the storm starts. I can't risk the cub getting sick, she barely has enough fur on herself to keep her warm while I'm flying around. Surprisingly, she has stayed asleep and hasn't moved this whole time. It worries me, but somehow I know that she's just sleeping. I look around and see a little village near a big mountain. I fly down there, but there doesn't seem to be anybody here. Maybe they're all just in their houses. I start walking around trying to see if there are any inns around. For some reason, after searching for about ten minutes, I come to the realization that there are no inns here. I feel something drop on my hand, and, when I look, I find that it's already started to rain. I run up to the nearest building and knock on the door. An old man with white hair and dressed in black answers the door. "Is there any way that I could possibly spend the night? It's started to rain, and I have a very young cub, and I can't let her get sick, and-"

He puts his hand over my mouth. I'm about to yell at him. "Come in before the storm gets too dangerous." I calm my temper down and follow him. As soon as he closes the door, I hear a bang of thunder. "Aunt Wu has been expecting you. I will take you to her." This is just weird. Whatever. He leads me to the back of the building and opens the door to a room. It is positively gorgeous. Everything is orange and yellow and even some blue. "Aunt Wu will be with you in a moment." He bows to me and leaves.

I look around and even see a little bed for my cub. Speaking of her, she's starting to wake up. She does the cutest little thing where she yawns and rubs her eye. She's so cute! "You know, you need a name, huh? Hm, what should I call you? Oh! I know! Your name will be Okami!" She makes an adorable little noise and rubs her face on my hand. "I'm guessing you like your name?" She purrs. "I thought you were a wolf fox, not a cat. Oh well, it just makes you unique." I wonder who this Aunt Wu person is. She kinda sounds like a fortune-teller.

"I am." I turn to see a lady walk into my room. "Do not be startled. I am Aunt Wu."

I bow to her. "Thank you very much for letting me stay the night during this storm."

"Anytime. However, I can see that the weather outside is not the only storm around."

"What do you mean?"

"Your eyes are red and lightly puffy, your shoulders are slumped, and your voice has a tint of hoarseness." I look at the floor. She's got me pegged. She reaches her hand out for mine. "Would you like to know your fortune, dearie?" I nod my head and take her hand. She takes me to another room. When we enter the room there is a giant curtain sectioning off one part of the room. She pulls the curtain back. There is a giant table, cushions for us to sit on, and a deck of cards. "Do you have anything specific that you want to know?"

"Well, not really. There has been so much going on, I don't even know what to think anymore. If you don't mind me asking, how much time do you have to spend with me?"

"As much time as you need. My shop is run by my hours, and I have assistants if anything comes up. I'm all yours, dearie."

"Well, in that case, can we try a few different things? I noticed the tarot cards, and I know that there are different spreads for different things that you want to know. I was thinking that maybe we could do more than one?" She nods her head.

"Well then, let's try this one first." She has me shuffle the cards a few times then put six down. "This one is to figure out what has happened during the close past. Now, as I tell you the meaning of each card, I want you to tell me what happened on the day you believe it is speaking about." She flips over the first card. "The fool tarot card. This card is a beginning of a new cycle. The discovery of talents and abilities, of optimism and happiness. There are important decisions and choices to be made, a new door opening towards new opportunities."

"That was the day that I met Aang, Sokka, and Katara. Aang is the Avatar, and Sokka and Katara are helping him get to the North Pole to learn water-bending. His lemur got stuck in a trap, I went to help it, he got to it first, Sokka tried to rescue the other animals trapped by throwing his boomerang at the cages, it worked, but they fell a long way, I yelled at them, I was on guard duty, so I went and told Jet what happened, he saved them while I had to go back to our hideout, Aang and I had a lot of fun, we had a feast, Aang and I talked a bit, he took me to my hut, and I had nightmares. I also asked Aang if I could travel with them."

"That was a very important decision." She flips over the next card. "The devil tarot card. This card is a negative card in its self, so a reverse meaning is more towards a better result. There is an indication that the chains of oppression will break, and that the Questioner will be free to choose his or her future."

"When my brother and I were younger he made a promise that whenever he became a monster, like those that killed our parents, that I was free to leave him. That day, he broke his promise by trying to destroy a town, simply because the fire nation had taken it over. There were still innocent people in there. I left him to travel with Aang and the others."

She flips over the next card. "The world tarot card. The card symbolizes successful completion or fulfillment."

"Is there another meaning for the card? They seem to be going in order, so I think it might be different."

"Yes, there is an alternate meaning. A secondary meaning might indicate a difficulty to put a closure to a matter concerning the Questioner. Sometimes this card shows the fear of changes."

"Nothing much happened that day until the end. I was talking to Aang, and, when the question came up, I was ultimately too scared to tell him that I was a fellow air-bender. I was so used to not telling anybody, that I guess it was just habit."

"Understandable." She flips over the next card. "The magician tarot card. This card shows will and determination, of someone starting a journey. There is initiative and some willingness to take risk and utilize the potential that rest within every individual."

"That day we went to the great divide. At the end of the day, I finally got up the courage to tell him. He was so happy to know that he wasn't the last one."

She just smiles at me and flips the next card. "The pope tarot card. This is the card of learning, maybe more into the realm of the spiritual."

"I think this one is opposite too."

"Alright. Though this card is a very positive card, the negative brings bad advice, slander and a distortion of the truth."

"That entire day, Sokka kept questioning me about being an air-bender and not telling them. I understood his reasoning at first, but soon it became very annoying. He wouldn't stop asking the same questions over and over. Like, are you really an air-bender, is Jet really your brother, is Lei really your name. It got so aggravating that I blew him off of Appa, but Aang saved him, so he survived. Aang had a nightmare that night, and I helped him through it by talking about the different meanings you could put into the stars. I never want to see him unhappy again."

She flips over the last one. "The papess tarot card. By what you just told me, I believe that this would probably be the secondary meaning as well. It shows the total lack of commonsense control, emotional outburst and the lack of foresight. It also shows that the Questioner has difficulties in coming to terms with themselves. I believe the second part will come later on."

"You're right. After fighting with Sokka all day, I finally snapped and yelled at him. When I turned my back to walk away, he grabbed my wrist, and my special bracelet fell off, shattering into tiny pieces. Because of that, I flew off and left them without thinking."

She puts her hand on my shoulder. "Well, you understand your mistake now. We are going to do one more, then you need to head off to bed." Right on cue, I have to yawn. "See? This time I am going to do a palm reading, alright?" I nod and give her my right hand. "Let's see now. There has been tragedy in your life. You lost both of your parents, you left behind your brother and your previous friends that you grew to love. I see that you were their doctor. You have a few needle marks in your skin. Your hands are not shaky, so you are a very good doctor. You have a deep connection and love for animals. You have a strong will and a lot of determination. You have also made new friends recently. The discovery of your new friends will help you discover your past. Open up to them, as they will to you. You have also met your one true love. It will be a bit difficult, but you two can overcome anything. He is the main key to your past. However, he is going through a rough time right now, and you are not able to be there for him. He misses you deeply." She puts my hand down. "You are not the type of person that really wants to know your future, so I will not tell it to you."

"Aunt Wu, before I go to bed, can I ask you something?" She nods her head. "Do you know anything about the Ara?"

"Ah, you want to know about your destiny. I will tell you tomorrow, I promise. Now, head to bed. I will have one of my assistants send you food for...Okami, was it?" I nod and continue to my room. When I open the door, Okami jumps at my feet, begging to be fed.

I rub her head. "Just be patient, Okami. Food will be here soon. Then you and I can eat together for the first time. How does that sound?" She purrs and rubs my leg. "You really are like a cat."

"That's actually very normal for a wolf fox." I turn around and see a girl with poofy braids. "Hello, my name is Meng. I have food for you and your wolf fox." She sets a tray of food down on the small table.

"Thank you, Meng. My name is Lei." I reach out my hand, and she shakes it. "So, you're one of Aunt Wu's assistants? You seem pretty young."

"Well, she's my actual aunt. My parents want me to be able to help people with fortune telling just like she does, but so far all I can do is cook and bring stuff. I've never seen clothes like that before."

"Oh, these are air-nomad clothes, sort of. My mom left them to me. They're different than what young male nomads wear, but that's all I know about them."

"Who are you engaged to?"

"What? I'm not engaged to anyone. Why would you ask that?"

"You're necklace is a betrothal necklace. I know a little bit about jewelry. That's what I really want to do." She gets this dreamy look on her face. "Well, I have to go. Goodnight, Lei."

"Goodnight, Meng." She closes the door behind her as she leaves. "Okay, Okami, time to eat."

I wake up early to talk to Aunt Wu about this Ara person. "Aunt Wu? May I come in?"

"Of course, dearie." I open the door and sit down at the table. "You're here about your destiny as the Ara, I presume?" I nod my head. "There are two beings that are to always be by the Avatar's side: the left hand and the right hand. The left hand of the Avatar is his or her animal guide. The right hand is the Avatar's Ara. The Avatar is the bridge between our world and the spirit world for humans, while the Ara is the bridge for animals. Most spirits tend to be animals or forms of animals, so, in a sense, the Ara has a stronger connection with the spirit world than the Avatar does and has the same original bending abilities. The Ara can talk to animals and feel what they feel. The Ara is usually told of their destiny when the Avatar is, but this case is special. Whatever happened to the Avatar to make him disappear for 100 years was meant to happen, for if not, then he would have no Ara, and the world would be out of balance. The Ara also usually has an animal companion like the Avatar. I believe that this is your wolf fox, Okami."

"What am I supposed to do as the Ara?"

"Animals are all around us. They play an important role in our lives. The job of the Ara is to help contain the animal spirits. There is one that I remember causing quite a ruckus named Hei Bai. The Avatar had a hard time calming him down, but eventually did it. Hei Bai was the spirit of a forest that was burned down by the fire nation and was understandably upset. It is the job of the Ara to help creatures like these. So, no matter what, you must always be by the Avatar's side. Do you understand?" I nod my head. "Good, now there are some people by the river who need to see you, or their destiny will be altered."

I stand up and bow. "Thank you Aunt Wu. I will take my things with me. I must look for Aang if I have to help him." I go to my room, gather my things, change into my clothes that I was wearing back in the trees, put Okami in her sling, and fly towards the river I remember passing on my way here. I look down and see a familiar ball of white fur. "Appa!" He looks up at me and growls. I fly down and land on his back. "It's good to see you again. I'll be staying for good this time, I promise. Where is everybody else? Don't tell me you got captured? Come on, let's get you out of here. I know where we can get you some food." His stomach growls, and I start to pull Appa away from the tents.

"Who's there!?" I turn and see some figures running at me. My first instinct is to hide my face, so I throw up my hood.

I pull on Appa's reigns to try to get him to go faster. "Come on, we have to go before they catch us!" He slings me up onto his back and begins to take off. I hear someone yell something, and I feel a blast of air blow me back into the river. "Being wet isn't very fun."

"Lei?"


	5. The Furtoneteller

I look up and see Aang. "Hey, Aang. Sorry, I was just taking Appa to get some food. It's great to-" He tackles me in a hug, and we fall back into the water.

"I missed you so much! I didn't think you were ever going to come back!" I rub his head.

"Now, how could you think that? I'm your best air-bending buddy, remember?" We both laugh at that. I start to become serious. "I really did miss you, though. I felt like something was missing." I look up and see him looking confused. I wave my hands in front of my face, embarrassed. "N-Nevermind. I'll explain it to you later, okay? You have to meet a friend of mine, and she'll explain it to you. I don't really know how to explain it yet." I look over, see Sokka on the shore, and freeze. He walks up to me. "Y-Yes?"

"I wanted to-I just-I needed-*sigh* I'm sorry." Well, that was...unexpected. "What I said was out of line, and you were right. I would've done a lot more than just slap someone if people were talking that way about Katara. I'm also really sorry about your bracelet."

"It-It's okay. It's not like you meant to b-break it. It's just kinda sad that it's broken."

"Actually, it's not." He starts smiling. "The fisherman that I helped out was also a glass maker. He couldn't fix your bracelet, but he melted the pieces down and made a new bracelet." He pulls the bracelet out from behind his back and hands it to me.

"This is so beautiful." On the inside there is a carving of the air-symbol and the words 'Flower of the Treetops.' "This is absolutely amazing, Sokka! Thank you so much!"

"So, apology accepted?" I smirk and hug him.

"Of course, Sokka." We sit around and talk for a little while.

"Look!" We all look over and see a gigantic fish flipping around in the water. He seems to be having a lot of fun. He actually smirks at us.

"Oh, he is taunting us. You are so gonna be dinner!" He runs over and grabs his fishing pole. When he tries to cast it, nothing happens. "Hey, where's the fishing line?"

"Oh, I didn't think you would need it, Sokka."

"Ah, it's all tangled!"

He air-bends himself up to a standing position. "Not tangled, woven. I made you a necklace, Katara. I thought since you lost your other one." He smiles while showing her the necklace. I feel that strange twinge again. I feel kinda angry for some reason.

"Thanks, Aang, I love it." There's a bit larger twinge. Why am I getting mad all of a sudden?

"Great, Aang. Maybe instead of saving the world, you can go into the jewelry making business."

"I don't see why I can't do both." He shrugs his shoulders innocently.

Sokka throws his fishing pole like a spear, but misses. "Stop taunting me!" He takes out a knife and goes to fight the fish.

"You can get it, Sokka!" I cheer him on from the shore.

"Why are you encouraging him? I thought you loved animals."

"Even though I'm an air-bender and an animal lover, that doesn't mean that I don't like meat. As long as I don't have to see it being prepared, I can eat it."

"So, how do I look." I turn and see Katara with the necklace on. There's the twinge again. I look over and see that Aang has a dreamy look on his face. The twinge keeps getting stronger. Wait. Am I jealous? Seriously? I just met him, how can I already be getting jealous?

"You mean, all of you, or just your neck. I mean, because they both look great!" There's the twinge again. Yep, definitely jealousy. I mean, do you see the way he's looking at her!? He's practically drooling. I go and lean up against Appa. If I don't get away from that little scene, I'm either going to puke or hit someone. I'm kinda violent, apparently.

"Smoochie Smoochie, someone's in love~" I really wish that fish would slap him. The fish slaps him. Wow, didn't think that would work.

"I-Well." He rubs his head nervously. I feel my spirits drop a bit. I turn and start petting Appa. I can't watch much more of this.

"Stop teasing him, Sokka. Aang's just a good friend. A sweet little guy, just like Momo."

"Thanks." Okay, now I feel bad for him, a little.

Sokka comes over and he's soaking wet. "Here, let me help." I try to blow the air off of him, but just end up blowing him away instead. "Sorry!"

He comes over and rubs my head. "That's okay. I kind of worked." He shrugs, and I blush. I look over and see Aang kind of look upset. Oh, so he's jealous now? Well, this is about to get very fun.

"Thanks, Sokka. You really are too sweet." I wink at him and walk away, taking into account the very angry look on a certain air-bending monk's face. We turn when we hear a loud roar.

Aang jumps onto a rock. "Someone's being attacked by a platypus-bear!" We run and see a guy dodging the platypus-bear very calmly.

"Hello there, nice day, isn't it?"

"Make noise, he'll run off!"

"No, play dead, he'll lose interest!"

"Woah, close one!" He just continues dodging and laughing a little bit.

"Run downhill, then climb a tree!"

"No, punch him in the bill!"

"And then run in zig-zags!"

"No need, it's going to be fine." He just barely misses being clawed in the face.

I jump in front of the platypus-bear and raise my hands. "Woah there, big girl. What's the matter, huh? What's got you so worked up?" She swings her claw at me, and I notice something. I stop her claw just before it hits me. I turn it over to see that she has a giant slash there. "Aw, poor baby. Here, let's get you all fixed up." I pull her with me to the river and put her paw in the water. "There we go. Just leave it in there for a little bit to help get rid of some of the pain. You'll feel better in no time." She rubs her face up against mine, and I fall backwards. She looks sad. "No, no, I'm okay, you're just a bit too strong for me, is all." She moves out of the way, and I see that she laid an egg. "Oh my goodness, is this for me? Thank you very much." She gets into the river and swims away. "Goodbye! Here, Sokka, you take it."

"Mm, lunch!" I facepalm and shake my head at him. "Lucky for you we came along."

"Thanks but everything was already under control. Not to worry. Aunt Wu predicted I'd have a safe journey." Oh, that makes sense. They talk a little bit more about Aunt Wu.

"But the fortune teller was wrong. You didn't have a safe journey, you were almost killed!" Actually, the Ara over here saved him, so he did. Maybe I shouldn't pretend to like him, it would be too hard. Objective Make Aang Jealous: Failed. Thankfully he didn't know about it, though.

"But I wasn't! Alright, have a good one." He begins to walk away, but stops. "Oh, and Aunt Wu said if I met any travelers to give them this." He hands Aang a package and walks away.

"Maybe we should go see Aunt Wu and learn our fortunes. It could be fun." It actually is.

"Oh, come on, fortune telling is nonsense." Yep, glad I stopped.

Aang rips open the package. "What do you know, an umbrella." He opens it above him just as it begins to rain. I run underneath the umbrella. There is only room for two, so Katara uses her bending to keep from getting wet.

"That proves it!"

"No, it doesn't. You can't really tell the future."

"Then I guess you're not really getting wet then." The egg slips from his hands and falls on his head. We all laugh at Sokka, for it feels very, very nice.

"Of course she predicted it's gonna rain. The skies been grey all day."

"Just admit you might be wrong, and you can go under the umbrella."

"There's not much room available under here, you know."

"Look, I'm going to predict the future now. It's going to keep drizzling. See?" It automatically stops raining.

"Not everyone has the gift, Sokka."

"That and I'm pretty sure the universe thinks your misery is funny, as the rest of us do." Me and Aang laugh while Appa shakes his wet fur off on Sokka. "So, how much did you guys miss me while I was gone?"

Katara speaks up. "I really missed having another girl around. Sokka was moping about a lot. I think he was trying to figure out the right way to apologize. I think Aang missed you most of all. He would get really sad over the most random of things, and he was really scatter-brained. He actually ran into a tree, twice." Aang turns his head away from me. His face is red from, is it embarrassment? He looks kinda cute like that. We finally get back into the village.

"Aunt Wu is expecting you." He opens the door for us.

"Really?" She sounds so hopeful. She probably is expecting us, but I think he says that to everybody. Sokka makes a noise of disbelief. We walk into the front entrance and Meng enters the room.

"My name is Meng, and I'm Aunt Wu's assistant." She looks at Aang and her eyes grow wide. "Well, hello there~" Great, this day just keeps getting better and better.

"Hello." I don't think he understood her undertone.

"Can I get you some tea, or some of Aunt Wu's special bean curd puffs?"

"I'll try a curd puff." They're actually really good. That's what she fed me and Okami last night.

"Just a second. So, what's you name?~" Just ignore it, Lei.

"Aang."

"That rhymes with Meng! And you've got some pretty big ears, don't you?" Huh?

"I guess so?" He looks a little nervous.

"Don't be modest, they're huge!" Aang covers his ears, while I hit Sokka on the head. He rubs his head defensively.

"Sokka, that's rude, and untrue."

"Well, Aang, it's very nice to meet you, very nice."

"Likewise."

"I can't believe we're here in the house of nonsense."

"Try to keep an open mind, Sokka. There are things in this world that just can't be explained. Wouldn't it be nice to have some insight into your future?"

"It would be nice to have some bean curd puffs."

"I told you, you only think about food. They are really good, though."

"Wait, how would you know?"

"When I came here yesterday during a really bad storm, Aunt Wu let me spend the night. She was very nice and did a few readings for me. They were really accurate, but there's one more thing I need to ask her." Aang says something to Meng who is whispering to a lady in green. She brigs over the snacks and trips, almost knocking the food over. Aang catches the tray, holding her hand in the process.

"E-Enjoy your snack!" She leaves briskly, and Aunt Wu comes in.

"Welcome, young travelers. Now, I would like to have a word with the young Ara, if you don't mind." I get up and follow Aunt Wu to the room again. "I know you haven't told him yet. I will hint to him about the Ara, but this is something that you must tell him yourself. You should also tell him about that strange dream you had on the solstice."

"Yes, Aunt Wu." I feel another presence outside the door. It might just be Okami. "Was this all that you had to tell me?"

"No, I was going to tell you not to try to make him jealous, but it seems that you have figured that out on your own. A very wise decision on your part. By the way, a quick word of warning. As the Ara, you may be able to feel some of the emotions that he has. That is actually quite normal, for that is how you communicate with the animals. It may seem as a burden sometimes, but you will get used to it." She winks at me.

"Um, Aunt Wu, there is something that I actually do want to know about my future."

"Ah, yes, most girls do want to know about their love life, and you are no exception. Now, give me your palm, child." I hear a creak outside of the door when I give her my hand. She starts tracing the lines in my palms and I giggle. You can't blame me it's ticklish! "I see a lot of tests and trials for you. You are a person that lives in the here and now, you don't stop to think of what your words or actions will do. Because of that, you will get into a few arguments, but you will be happy, none the less. You are a very passionate person, and you're not very good at hiding your emotions. However, these are the things that he loves about you. He will believe you to be the most precious thing in the world to him." She stands up.

"Wait, can't I at least have a clue as to who he is?"

She smiles at me. "I will give you one clue, and one clue only. He is a very good dancer, something that you love to do. Now, let us get back to your friends." I hear running in the hallway outside the door. "Now, who's next? Don't be shy." Katara stands up and goes with her. Sokka munches loudly on the puffs.

"Not bad, not bad!" He literally shovels them into his mouth, before offering them to us.

"Sure!" I grab a handful.

"I'm good on puffs. So, what did you talk about in there, Lei?" He has a smug look on his face, and I blush furiously.

"Oh! Um, just some stuff about my life. Why are you smirking?"

"Uh, no reason." He rubs the back of his head and looks anywhere but at me.

"Oh, and by the way, I know that you were outside the door."

"What?"

"Well, I can't see Katara spying on me, she's too good-hearted for that. Sokka doesn't care about fortune telling, and Okami couldn't possibly make that much noise running back. She doesn't weigh hardly anything. I would think an air-bender would at least hover back to his seat or something." I turn to walk out of the door. "You didn't have to spy on me, that wasn't cool." I walk out the door.

"I'm an idiot."


	6. The Spirit of the Volcano

"Well, now you got to see for yourselves that fortune telling is just a big, stupid hoax."

"You're just saying that because you're going to make yourself unhappy your whole life."

"Even I agree with that statement." Aang looks at me then looks away sadly. Aunt Wu was right. I can literally feel the sadness washing over him. I feel terrible, but what he did was wrong, and he needs to learn that.

"That woman is crazy. My life will be calm, and happy, and joyful!" He kicks a rock, and it flies back to hit him in the head. "That doesn't prove anything!"

"I think it proves that you shouldn't kick anything when you're angry, or it will come back to bite you. Life lesson, learn it." He glares at me, and I shrug my shoulders.

"Well, I liked my predictions. Certain things are going to turn out very well."

"They sure are."

"Why? What did she tell you?"

"Some stuff, you'll find out." She walks away, and he turns to me. "Hey, Lei, I'm really sorry about spying on you."

"Yeah, whatever, Aang."

"Aunt Wu told me that you have something very important to talk to me about."

"W-What!? What are y-you talking about?" Please tell me she didn't tell him that I was getting jealous.

"She said something about an era?" Phew, dodged that bullet.

"Oh, okay, and the word is Ara. I will tell you later, when there are less people around, okay?" He shrugs his shoulders and continues walking. We head over to the cloud reading, when Meng shows up.

"Hello, Lei, it's good to see you. What have you been up to today?"

"It's good to see you too, Meng. Well, I visited Aunt Wu with my friends."

"Really, you did? When?"

"When you kept staring at Aang and not recognizing anybody else." That came out harsher than it needed to be.

"Oh, sorry about that. He's just so cute.~ Don't you think so?"

"Yeah, I do-" I stop mid-sentence and blush. "I-I mean I-I g-guess he is, if-if you're paying attention, n-not that I was paying attention to that, um. You know what, just ignore me." I rub the back of my head and give a weak laugh. She walks over to Aang.

"Hey, Aang, don't you think that cloud looks like a flower, huh?"

"Sure, I guess." He pushes her aside. "Hey, Katara, don't you think that cloud looks like a flower?" She shushes him and turns back around. Aunt Wu explains some of the clouds. When she finishes the crowd erupts in applause. "Since I got you here, there's something I want to tell you. I like you, but more than normal." She walks away as my heart shatters. "Nevermind." He turns around to walk away, but ends up running into me, and we fall to the ground. "Sorry about that, Lei." He gets up and reaches out his hand to help me up. "Here, let me help...Lei? Why are you crying?"

"I-I'm not crying." I try to wipe my tears away, but they just keep coming. "I just got dirt in my eyes, and it stings." He helps me up.

"Here let me help." He grabs my hands and gently blows into my eyes. His face is kinda close to mine, so I light up in a blush. "Feel better?" No, but I nod anyway. He just stands there and stares at me.

"Uh, Aang?"

"Why are you sad?"

"What do you mean? I-I told you I just had dirt in my eyes." He gets closer to my face, and my blush gets deeper.

"I know you're lying to me. For some reason, I can actually feel your sadness. Did I do something wrong, again?"

"Maybe." He looks shocked and hurt, and I yank my hands away. I walk away and end up at Aunt Wu's. I knock on the door, but no one answers. I guess she's not back yet. I feel a hand on my shoulder, and I spin around to see her. "H-Hi, Aunt Wu." She opens up her arms, and I run into them, crying.

"Come on, dearie, let's go inside." I nod, look behind her, and freeze. Aang is still standing there looking at me. Aunt Wu turns around and shakes her head at him. She walks me back inside to the room she let me sleep in. She sits on the bed next to me. "Now, tell me what happened." I begin telling her what happened while trying, but failing, to stop my tears. "I see, I believe this may be partially my fault. I told him to follow his heart and he would find love. I had actually thought he had feelings for you, dearie. When I told him his fortune I used the bone method. He didn't care about the fact that he would be involved in a great battle. He only cared about a girl, so I just told him something that is true for everyone. After he left, I went back and looked at the bones. There was a crack that showed inner, romantic conflict, it involved you and that water tribe girl. I believe it means that you have changed his destiny for the better and that he sees you as a possible love interest. I know, dearie, that he is confused as to why when he has feelings for one girl, he can have feelings for another he had just met. Now, that is all I can tell you. Please cheer up, a smile suits you much better than tears do." I smile and wipe away the last of my tears.

"Thank you, Aunt Wu. I guess I'll go now." I walk out the door.

"Oh, hey, Lei, I didn't see you there." What? Weird.

"Hey, Aang. Sorry about earlier."

"Whatever." Uh, jerk much? You know what, whatever. I just walk away. "That's okay, I'm busy with my own stuff." What is he even talking about? I walk up to a fruit stand.

"Can I have some strawberries, please?" I hand the man my money, and he hands me a little basket of strawberries. "Thank you." Aang comes up to me and he's leaning kinda weird.

"So, strawberries, huh?"

"Yeah, do you want some? There's plenty to go around."

He grabs an apple...but he hates apples. "You know me, I don't really care what I eat." I wait a second and he spits it out.

"No, I know that if you didn't care about what you ate, you wouldn't be a vegetarian. Why are you acting weird? This morning you spy on me, which isn't like you, and then when I try to apologize for running into you, you are a jerk, and just say, 'whatever.' You know what, nevermind. Just talk to me when you're acting like yourself again." I open my glider and go flying for a few minutes to clear my head. What is going on with him, anyway? I know he got rejected by Katara, but that's no reason to be a jerk. After a few minutes, I feel like I've calmed down, so I fly back down to Aunt Wu's and see Katara just standing there looking upset. "What's wrong, Katara?"

"She's not letting me in."

"Uh, Katara, how long have you been standing here?"

"About an hour, why?"

"Uh, no reason." I see Aang and Sokka running up to us.

"Hey, Katara."

"Can you believe she won't let me in, and after all the business I've given her?"

"But she doesn't even charge."

"I know, but still." He turns to me.

"Hi, Lei."

"Are you finished being a jerk now? Because if you're not, I'm still not talking to you."

"Well, we have other things to worry about. Aunt Wu was wrong about the volcano."

"Sokka, you tried to convince me she was wrong before. It's going to take an awful lot to change my-" The ground suddenly shakes beneath us and smoke comes out of the top of the volcano. "Oh no." We head out to the center of town and try to warn everybody, but they don't believe us. Aang comes up with an idea that has something to do with clouds. I can't really focus. I'm feeling some sort of pain all throughout my body. "Lei, is something wrong?"

"Aang you know about spirits. Can a spirit make things like this happen?"

"Yeah, if a spirit is angry it can do whatever it wants. Why?"

"I'll be back later." I hop on my glider and take off towards the surrounding forest. It is so silent. All of the animals are gone. I hope they stay safe. I feel a strange aura coming from a little cave near the base of the volcano. I land my glider at the entrance and walk until I see a small shrine. I walk up to it and see the carving of an owl. I touch the jewel on the owls head, and a strange sensation comes over my body. Everything is blue and kinda foggy. "Hello? Is anyone there?" A giant panda comes up to me. "Hello, are you here to help me? I think I'm looking for an owl that's the guardian of a nearby mountain." He starts walking away and I follow him. We head towards the cave in the mountain that I was just at and see an owl that's as tall as I am. "Hello?"

"Ah, hello, young Ara. What brings you to my home?"

"Would you happen to know what's happening with the volcano?"

"Why, I am having it destroy that awful village, of course." He just says it like it's the most natural thing.

"Why are you destroying that village? Are you angry at them, or something?" His wings start to flutter angrily.

"Well, of course I'm angry! I was loved and respected by all of the people in that village. Then, for some reason, about twenty years ago they stopped praying to me and coming all together. They obviously don't care about the spirits or their safety, so I might as well burn their entire village to the ground. Maybe the next group of people who want to make a home here will respect the spirits." He flies up onto a little perch and turns away from me.

"I don't think they meant to ignore you. They have a fortune teller in their village now, and she does readings on whether the village will be destroyed by the volcano or not by using the clouds. I don't believe that she meant any harm, disrespect, or loneliness to you. She just wants to help the people of the village have a better understanding of their future. Please stop the volcano. There are women and children there." He sighs and hangs his head.

"You make a very good argument, and I believe you. How can I deny the young Ara? However, there is not much that I can do. Lava is also a work of nature. I can only stop it from making more. I can't stop it from destroying the village. You and your friends will have to do that on your own." I bow.

"Thank you, great spirit. I do have two more questions. Who helped all of the animals get away, and do you know how I can get back?"

"I believe it was your friend, Hei Bai, that saved the animals. I will help you return to your world. One more thing before you go. There is a family of badger moles near my shrine." He begins to flap his wings faster and faster until he envelopes me in a small tornado. When the tornado finally dissipates, I look around and I'm back in the shrine. I see lava pouring out at the entrance of the cave. I hear a giant gust of wind, and the lava hardens into a wall. I try using my air bending to some how knock it down or blow a hole in it, but nothing works. I'm trapped in here with a limited supply of air! I start thinking of ways to get out of here.

"Wait! The owl spirit said that there was a family of badger moles near here. Okay, now how do I connect to them? It's one thing to get a fish to slap Sokka, but this is on an entirely different level." I start thinking, but because of the lack of air I'm getting really dizzy really quickly. I start singing a little song that I remember my mother singing to me when I was little. "Come quickly, oh please-and here my plea-I need some-assistance from thee-in return-for singing this song-all I ask-is you help me along.~" I'm about to pass out, but I feel a rumbling underneath me. The floor from underneath of me crumbles, and I land on the back of a giant badger mole. "Thank you." It crawls towards the entrance and opens it back up. It lays me gently on the ground, and a few littler badger moles come up to me to play. I play with them for a few minutes to let the dizziness fade. "Thank you all very much for saving me and keeping me company, but I must get back to my friends to make sure that everyone is okay." I wave goodbye to them and fly on my glider back to the village. I see Aang handing something to Aunt Wu. I drop down next to him and talk to Meng.

"He really likes her, doesn't he?" I put my hand on her shoulder.

"Yeah, I think he does. That just means that he's not the right one. Besides, I don't think his ears are big enough for you, anyway." We both laugh, and she gives me a hug.

"I'll tell you a little secret, young air bender. Just as you re-shaped those clouds, you have the power to shape your own destiny." She gestures towards me, and he stares and smiles gently. She pushes him and he hits my back. "A little push in the right direction never hurt either." She winks. I run up to Aunt Wu and hug her.

"I will miss you very much, dearie. Now, behave and tell him soon."

"I will, Aunt Wu. Oh, and I think that you shouldn't tell the people if the volcano will erupt or not anymore."

"The owl spirit got lonely didn't he?" I nod. "Alright, dearie, I'll do this for you." I fly up onto Appa. I grab Okami and put her in the sling around my shoulders. Aang hops up into Appa's saddle and sits next to me. Katara says goodbye to everybody, and we take off into the sky. Aang jumps up.

"Wait, I forgot something." He hops on his glider and heads back to the village. After a few minutes he lands back in the saddle. "I got something for you, Lei. I wanted to apologize, but my words never come out right." He hands me the most beautiful flower I've ever seen. "It's a panda lily. It grows at the top of the volcano. After all of the lava there was only one-" I cut him off by hugging him.

"Aang, thank you so much, it's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen." He smiles and goes to sit on Appa's head. I begin to whisper to Katara. "Hey, can you braid a piece of my bangs with this?" She nods and gets to work. After she finishes, I turn to Aang. "So, Aang, how do I look?" He turns around and his jaw drops. Well, well, well, this is a nice reaction.

"You mean all of you, or just your hair. I mean, because they both look great." He rubs the back of his head.

"Smoochie-Smoochie, someone's in love~." I blow him off of Appa's saddle again, and Aang goes to save him again. They come back and my face is as red as the strawberries I had earlier. This is going to be a long trip to the North Pole.


End file.
